Case Number 22565

GUNSMOKE: THE FIFTH SEASON, VOLUME 1

The Charge

"Just looking at a grave, you can't tell if it holds a good man or a bad
one. But if you saw the man himself -- while he was alive -- you could tell
easy." -- Matt Dillon

Opening Statement

I've just been watching the CBS show about a tough guy who's handy with a gun
and his eccentric partner with a limp step in to rescue people in trouble.
Actually, I've just been watching two shows that fit that basic description: the
new Person of Interest and the vintage Gunsmoke. Of course,
Marshal Matt Dillon and Deputy Chester Goode don't have an empathetic
supercomputer, as Reese and Finch do. Even so, it does suggest that Westerns
just got a reboot instead of winding up on Boot Hill.

Facts of the Case

Gunsmoke: The Fifth Season, Volume 1 features twenty episodes on three
discs:

Disc One * "Target" -- A landowner wants to chase
gypsies off his property, but his son has fallen for a gypsy woman. John
Carradine (The Grapes of Wrath) and Darryl Hickman (Network)
guest.

* "Horse Deal" -- Ranchers are calling for the head of the thief
who sold them someone else's horses, putting pressure on Dillon.

* "Johnny Red" -- A widow is happy that her long-lost son has
returned, but Dillon knows the son was reported dead at Shiloh and suspects that
the newcomer may be an outlaw.

* "Kangaroo" -- After Chester (Dennis Weaver, McCloud) and
Dillon rescue a man accused of "riotous living" from a zealot's
justice, the zealot and his sons come looking to give Chester a bad taste of
religion.

* "Tail to the Wind" -- A father and son are trying to force
landowners to sell out, but Dillon can't get anyone to swear out a
complaint.

* "Annie Oakley" -- A married woman accuses a man of flirting,
just before her husband is found dead.

Disc Two * "Saludos" -- A Pawnee woman rides toward
Dodge after being attacked in Choctaw Basin. Dillon and Chester find three
suspects, and bring them all back to Dodge. Jack Elam (Rio Lobo)
guests.

* "Brother Whelp" -- A man returns to Dodge to find that his
brother has inherited the ranch and won the heart of his sweetheart -- and he's
not happy.

* "The Boots" -- The man who humiliated a once-proud gunslinger
returns to Dodge to put the squeeze on him. The orphan boy that the gunslinger
adopted may be the one who has something to say about it.

* "Odd Man Out" -- A rancher comes to Dillon's office to whittle
and talk. It seems his wife left him. When her clothes turn up, Dillon starts to
wonder what happened.

* "Miguel's Daughter" -- Dillon's afraid a Mexican rancher might
take the law into his own hands to defend his daughter's honor.

* "Box O' Rocks" -- Dillon's on hand at a funeral to certify a
violent death, but he discovers that the coffin contains only rocks. The rocks
may hold a clue to what happened.

* "False Witness" -- A lone witness could be enough to convict a
man of murder, but Dillon doubts the testimony. Wayne Rogers (M*A*S*H)
guests.

Disc Three * "Tag, You're It" -- Chester's taken an
interest in a dance hall girl, but she's taken an interest in the hired gun
who's making Dodge residents "so doggone nervous and jumpy," as Doc
puts it.

* "Thick 'n' Thin" -- Perkins and McCoy, two elderly homesteaders,
take potshots at each other. Once Dillon's involved, their "private
war" lands them in his lockup.

* "Groat's Grudge" -- A man orders a coffin and asks Chester where
he can find a preacher for a funeral. Is there a body? "Oh, no, not
yet."

* "Big Tom" -- A drunken ex-boxer is prodded into a rematch, but
it's Dillon who ends up in a bare-knuckles fight in the Long Branch.

* "Till Death Do Us Part" -- Who would try to kill a man of faith?
Quite a few people would like to, as Dillon finds out.

* "The Tragedian" -- Dillon helps out a starving Shakespearian
actor, but the thespian lands in jail anyway. Naturally, it's just as a killer
looking for the marshal is heading to Dodge.

The Evidence

This was my second batch of early Gunsmoke episodes on DVD, so I could
usually figure out how things were going to play out, which occasionally made
for a slow episode. However, strong performances, often by character actors who
are now largely forgotten, create interesting characters, from the troubled
prodigal son in "Johnny Red" to the battling homesteaders who are
really friends in "Thick 'n' Thin." This set is light on now-familiar
faces, one of the main joys of watching a vintage series, but you can't have
everything.

While Marshal Matt Dillon is known for gunfights such as the one in the
opening titles, the stories don't always end with Dillon shooting down a bad
guy. At times, Dillon's just an observer in some feud that ends tragically. At
others, Dillon manages to talk sense into people instead of reaching for a gun;
that's comic in "Thick 'n' Thin" and impressive in "Brother
Whelp." He's also good at playing psychological games with suspects, shown
best as he works on three possible killers during a long ride in
"Saludos." Dillon seems to know everyone in Dodge City, and James
Arness can adeptly persuade, empathize, or intimidate with a few words,
depending on what's needed.

Dillon doesn't have a supercomputer, but he's often prodded into action by
saloonkeeper Kitty Russell, played with both weariness and compassion by Amanda
Blake. She's always urging Dillon into action with a comment like,
"Hanging's too good for whoever did this." Kitty, Chester, and Doc
Adams (Milburn Stone, The Atomic City) are just as handy with needed
information as Finch is.

The picture quality is good for a series that's more than half a century
old. This was one of the most popular shows on TV, and CBS has taken good care
of it.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Where this set loses opportunties is in the extras. A "James Arness: In
Memoriam" tribute lasts only about 2 minutes. Given that Gunsmoke
lasted twenty years, there's probably lots to say about Arness and the famous
character he created. If you haven't seen Arness' sponsor spots for L&M
cigarettes on another Gunsmoke set, they still have some novelty value,
but you only have to see him step out of character to tout smokes once. It's
time to work up some extras that tell viewers about the impact Gunsmoke
and Arness had on 1950s television and pop culture.

Michael Emerson's limp is much more natural and convincing than Dennis
Weaver's. Some aspects of television performance have improved since 1959.

Closing Statement

You might scoff at my opening comparison, but Gunsmoke is still an
entertaining show, and the underlying theme of heroism with compassion is always
up-to-date. The Fifth Season: Volume 1 isn't a bad place to start
sampling Matt Dillon's adventures.